


Serpentine Scales and Bloody Knuckles

by Sun_Spark



Series: Southside Serpent's Court [3]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: And Of Course - Freeform, F/M, Gang politics, Gen, Group dynamics, Insecurity, Juvie Boys (Riverdale) - Freeform, M/M, Multi, Negotiations, Non-Sexual, OC Juvie Boys, Polyamory, Post-Canada, Pretty Poisons, Proud Jughead Jones, Rile, Season 3, Serpent King Jughead Jones, Serpent Queen Betty Cooper, Southside Serpent Archie Andrews, Southside Serpent Jughead Jones, Southside Serpent Leader Jughead Jones, Support, Thumper - Freeform, Voice of Reason Mad Dog, archie has anxiety, baby teeth, consort archie andrews, ill add to the tags when im awake, iron, mad dog - Freeform, post-juvie, southside serpents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-15
Updated: 2020-02-15
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:08:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22733827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sun_Spark/pseuds/Sun_Spark
Summary: With the Poisons once again integrated into the Serpents and working together, Jughead marvels at the lack of bloodshed or death in their combined ranks. Time would be ideal, but in Riverdale the clock waits for no one and runs faster and faster at a breakneck pace. So even with these two groups clashing, he follows one of his Partners, Archie Andrews, into the lion's den in an attempt to make allies out of a small but vicious group of boys. Their knuckles are always bared and bruised and bloody, but they have Archie's loyalty and respect, and so Jughead will extend his to them as well, and hope this night doesn't end in blood.OrFor less melodrama. The Poisons and Serpents are readjusting to one another and Toni and Jug are taking no prisoners on the sexist bs. Archie and Jug, with Sweet Pea and Peaches, go to the boxing club and try to form an alliance with the Juvie Boys Archie blackmailed the governor into releasing.
Relationships: Archie Andrews/Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones, Archie Andrews/Jughead Jones
Series: Southside Serpent's Court [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1475117
Comments: 6
Kudos: 37





	Serpentine Scales and Bloody Knuckles

**Author's Note:**

> Look. It's senior year of college. Did I not realize how much time went by? Yeah. Have all four of my drafts for this series been open since the last posting? E-Yeah. Am I working on it? YES! Is it really slow going because life?..... Unfortunately. So thank you to everyone who has kept coming back to check on this series, leaving me comments of encouragement, and sticking with this story despite the wait. Y'all the only reason I managed to get this up today. <3

Almost a week had gone by since Jughead, Archie, and Betty had met with Toni, nearly a week since the hotheaded Poisons and the stubborn Serpents had been thrown back together. Toni and Jughead had given them the time to adjust, but they had both agreed that there was no point dallying, better to just throw them all together again, give them something to do, and force them to learn how to get along again. Ruffled feathers and raised hackles not-withstanding, it was going fairly well. Some bruises, a few cuts, maybe a couple lost teeth, half a dozen fights and scraps, but no one had died, and they were, begrudgingly, working together, so they were going to count this as a win. On the bright side, the last few former Ghoulies in their midst who had been causing trouble had shut up real quick when faced with several annoyed guys and vicious girls all with no patience to spare. 

He’d gathered his snakes at the riverbed, and he’d seen immediately that they were not happy with Toni’s return after the crap she had pulled, but the girl had surprisingly admitted her mistakes and apologized for them in front of them all. That alone had shocked more than a few people into less aggressive stances. He’d explained to them how this was going to work, that the Poisons would once again exist under Serpent law and be Serpents again, and while they had been hesitant to accept that none of them could deny the benefits of that plan. Telling them that the Poisons would remain an autonomous group within the Serpents hadn’t gone over nearly as well, but neither he nor Toni had left room for argument on that matter. 

Steady and calm tones underlined by steel switched between them as they reminded the Serpents of their age-old practices that had driven the Poisons away. That had fueled the anger that had led them to lashed back against their so-called family. The traditions that objectified and sexualized their women and girls at the whim of arrogant men, the attempts to change this from the inside, the acceptance that they were not valued highly enough within their _‘family’_ for the customs to change. Their self-imposed exile to form their own group where they would never have to deal with such things again. Toni had admitted, with venom dripping off of iron grace, that the girls had taken it too far, but she would not apologize for the anger at their treatment. Jughead set the law then, informed the Serpents that such practices and discriminations would no longer be allowed, and, with far too sadistic a grin, informed them that it would be Toni and her Poisons, as well as himself, that transgressors would answer to.

It almost made him chuckle to see how the men each blanched, and recoiled, all of them at different rates, eyes falling to the floor in shame, arms crossing and shoulders hunching, guilty grimaces chasing across their expressions. The youngest caved first, living in a much different world than their elders, while the middle-aged Serpents wavered. The elders were the last to admit the problem or their fault, pushing back against changes in a system some of them had created and they had all grown up in. A stern rebuke from Thomas Topaz, Toni’s grandfather virtually shifted the entire group’s stance immediately, as the calm elder addressed them, as the voice of a leader and a grandfather told them that it was beyond time that they stopped degrading the women who had time and time again proven themselves both caretakers, guardians, and warriors fit to match any of the men. He’d admonished the Poisons as well, for their reckless attacks of their former brothers, and each girl, in turn, had bowed their head with respect, admitted and regretted their wrongdoing. The Serpents valued their elders, it was one of the reasons that it had proven so difficult to change these customs before, but the rebuke of one of their eldest and most respected set the law more effectively than any King could ever hope to match, and Jughead’s deference to him in lieu of arrogance allied any wavering Serpent to his side. 

He had been nervous for some time at changing the way things were run, creating a court of individuals with their own jobs to aid in the running of the gang instead of running it by himself with only a right-hand man and a Queen as previous kings had. He’d worried that the Serpents would take it as a sign of weakness, that they would not respect him nor this system, but he had been surprised by them. While there had been a few naysayers, it seemed the majority of the Serpents took these changes as an indication of dedication and levelheadedness. They saw these changes as a dedication to taking care of those under his wing, to relying on others as well as himself to do what was best. The deference he gave Thomas Topaz swayed any remaining doubters.

A week and no deaths, they could live with that, and ideally, he’d leave it even longer, a month at least, but time was a luxury given to not even the likes of Hiram Lodge in Riverdale. A week wasn’t long enough, but they needed to talk to the Juvie Boys that Archie had taken in, and it needed to happen soon. It wasn’t a particularly spectacular or unique night that found Jughead walking into the El Royal Boxing and Fight Club with Archie Andrews leading the way, followed closely by a Serpent, Sweet Pea, and a Poison, Peaches instead of Toni who was still settling her girls and the new status quo within the Serpents. Jughead had been nervous about bringing the two hotheads along, not wanting the hopeful negotiations to devolve into posturing and arguing if someone said something aggressive, but the two had promised to be on their best behavior. So far, they seemed to be holding to their word, standing back a step, side by side, Sweet Pea with his hands in his pockets and Peaches with her arms crossed. No less imposing than they ever were, but relaxed in their stances and as unthreatening as they could manage.

Jughead watched as Archie, normally quite unsure of himself and at times downright timid, took on an air of confidence. At first glance, he might have been tempted to say something had come over him, that he was acting like a different person, but Jughead had gotten to know Archie far more intimately than before over the last weeks since he had come home and was finally where he belonged. In truth it was more like the redhead had shed a weight and settled comfortably into his own skin.

He tried not to make his affection for the other boy completely obvious as he watched him stride forward and clap his hands twice to draw the attention of the others, calling out as he did so “Alright Guys! Can you come out here for a minute?”

Five former juvie inmates appeared like ghosts summoned, two ducking under the ropes enclosing the ring, two from the backrooms, and one dropping down from the upstairs level, all with varying degrees of curiosity on their faces as they formed a loose half-circle and took in the boy who had called them and his companions. Jughead watched with some fascination as Archie comfortably settled into a dual role of an equal happily standing among compatriots, and a temporary leader. It still took some thought for Jughead to understand how these guys created a pack of leaders without a leader. His chin came up and his hands tightened where they rested gripping his crossed arms as Mad Dog stepped toward Archie, instinctually on alert and protective. Behind him, he could both hear and feel Sweet Pea and Peaches shifting from the same instinct if only a different form. Archie would fare better in any fight like this than Jughead would, but the boy was his partner and he switched from unsure and fragile to confident and dealy almost fluidly; Jughead couldn't help wanting to protect him, even if it was unnecessary.

Mad Dog didn’t pay them any mind though, eyes training solely on the redhead who met his gaze evenly and neither indicated a challenge nor submission. The taller boy’s eyes scrutinized Archie’s demeanor and his stance settled a little more, not unalert, but not about to attack either. It was a look Jughead had seen on Archie in the ring, ready at a second’s notice, but waiting, considering. “What’s up Red?”

“Jug and I were talking, and we had an idea that might help our guys and the Serpents.”

Up in the ring Thumper, having been leaning on the ropes, straightened and leveled Archie with a look that wasn’t quite a glare but close enough to relay what he thought of whatever was about to be said, and possibly of Archie himself. “We’ve got no interest in being snakes, so don’t.” He turned to walk away and Jughead debated speaking, but Archie’s calm and firm tone stopped him. “That’s not what we’re suggesting Thumper.”

The boy turned back to look at Archie, piercing and evaluating gaze staring dead-on into non-threatening and firm eyes. He walked back to the rope. “Then what?”

Ah yes, this. This was the one thing Jughead could never imagine being comfortable with. These guys trusted each other with their lives, but they did not trust each other with anything else. It was odd, how they would die for one another, go to war for each other, take any injury on account of one another, but still maintained a mentality of every man for himself. The duality gave him a migraine just thinking about it.

“When we helped Mad Dog clean up that apartment and get his family out, we worked with the Serpents, yeah?” Thumper’s eyebrow tic’ed up. “Nobody likes a Ghoulie or a Gargoyle, Red.” Archie’s head tilted sideways as he inclined it in a short nod. “Yes, but you guys got along well enough with the Serpents, didn’t you?”

Iron, standing next to Thumper arched a brow. “What are you getting at Red?” His tone wasn’t challenging but genuinely curious. Archie sighed softly, shoulders falling to a less demanding posture. “Look,” He wasn’t begging, but his tone was imploring. “Riverdale is hell at times, and we’ve got nowhere else to go. People like us, or the Serpents, we aren’t liked here. Even though the Serpents keep order in half the town and take care of the people everyone else throws away, they’re still the first group people attack when something goes wrong. Groups like ours need friends, more than that they need allies.” His eyes went from one to the next in turn, meeting their eyes steadily and baring his sincerity. They landed last on Thumper and Iron, firmer. “That’s all we’re suggesting: a formal alliance.”

Mad Dog inclined his head ever so slightly. “That’s not a horrible idea Red. But-“

Thumper, it seemed, couldn’t wait his turn, and leaned forward over the ropes with a sneer. “The famed Serpent King can’t speak for himself?” Mad Dog’s jaw set as he grit his teeth ever so slightly and laid an exasperated stare on Thumper and Iron. The later had the decency to shift back a step awkwardly, the latter didn't bother to stop sneering or hide the eye roll that accompanied it.

Jughead moved forward and stood next to Archie, not in front of him, not behind him, at his shoulder- Equal. “Archie’s your brother, isn’t he?” He posed the question calmly, tones deeper than Archie’s ringing quietly and commandingly through the space. He saw Iron and the other two who had so far remained silent react to it immediately, shifting ever so slightly to hold themselves more alert. Thumper just stared at him, the seemingly random question catching him off guard. “What does that have to do with anything?” He sounded like he'd wanted to spit it out, but bewilderment had been too strong.

Jughead’s brow raised ever so slightly. “He’s been mine for years.” Behind him, Sweet Pea made a soft and aborted noise of amusement only heard by Peaches. At her questioning gaze, he shook his head slightly, not sure how to communicate his amusement that Jughead had worded that sentence as _‘he’s been mine’_ and not _‘been my brother’_. Jughead, his attention on the Juvie boys, didn’t notice or pause. “He is your brother and he is also a Serpent. I do not need to lead this conversation because I trust him. I would and have trusted him with my life and with the Serpents under my care. We’ve already discussed this at length, Archie does not need me to do this for him, and I do not need to do this in his place.”

Thumper considered him but did not comment. Sat on a stool by the ring Baby Teeth voiced his own questions. “You expect us to be allies, not to become Serpents?” At the nod from both Jughead and Archie, he continued. “And you have no requirements for that?”

Archie looked to Jughead and waited, deciding that this at least was Jughead’s place. Jughead took a breath. “The Serpents have laws we live by,” In the ring, Thumper snorted loudly and Iron’s look became skeptical. The former interrupted annoyingly, “Oh laws! How wonderful. What, do we have to, shiv someone?”

Jughead raised a brow at him almost disdainfully but did not rise to the bait. Calmly he called back to the other two, not breaking eye contact from the rude teen. “Sweet Pea, Peaches, care to remind me what our laws are?” The deathly sweet tone lacing around his words snapped all Juvie eyes to him in varying stages of alarm, the casual, calmly controlled capacity for darkness and blood setting survival instincts on edge.

Together, Sweet Pea and Peaches' stances firmed immediately, akin to soldiers at attention before a commander. In tandem, they smiled, grins wickedly sharp and teeth glinting. Somehow this made the calm and strong tones ringing steadily over the room more imposing than any barked version of the laws they normally gave as they spoke in turn.

Sweet Pea began. “No Serpent stands alone. Serpents never show cowardice.”

Peaches toned in while he stayed silent. “The family of a Serpent killed or imprisoned will be taken care of by the group.”

Again, Sweet Pea spoke, “A Serpent _never_ shed’s their skin.”

Deadly and sweet tones drew eyes back to the girl. “No Serpent is left for dead or left behind.”

A note of viciousness tinged the lower tones of the tall boy and all eyes snapped back to him immediately. “A Serpent **_never_** betrays their own.”

Together their voices merged as one, danger caged under control promised in the ethereal tones. _**“In unity, there is strength.”**_

Jughead had never looked back at them, eyes forever boring into Thumper. Now his head tilted to the side and an almost bored and childish tone curled off his tongue. “I won’t require you to follow these laws, but considering the Serpents will return in equal measure _whatever_ you give to them, I would certainly hope you’d give it some thought.”

Mad Dog had been watching intently, giving everything careful thought and consideration, now he addressed them all, Juvie Boys and Serpents alike, eyes watching Jughead thoughtfully. “Loyalty and Honor, they make a fine code of law.”

Jughead inclined his head towards the taller boy, willing to bend his neck to this one alone who had risked his life to save Archie’s. “Yes.” He looked back up and considered them all, focusing back on Baby Teeth. “That being said Baby Teeth, there are lines that, if crossed, make the loyalty of the Serpents null and void, even among our own. I cannot expect my people to follow these rules and not ask the same of our allies.”

Baby Teeth nodded and shrugged nonchalantly, idly Archie and Mad Dog hid their fondness and amusement for the boy who never took anything quite as seriously as he should. “Makes sense, but what are they?” Jughead chuckled slightly. “Basically? We don’t deal, take, or cook drugs; we don’t commit felonies unless completely unavoidable,” His head tilted slightly, “that one has a bit of leeway if there is literally no other option. And above all, we do nothing that will endanger or bring the attention of hostile people to the group.” He sighed quietly. “These rules, except usually the first, are not laws because sometimes they cannot be helped. Sometimes we’re backed into a corner and we have no choice. But there is a large difference in defending yourself or another from, say the Gargoyles, and challenging someone like Hiram Lodge to kill us all by being reckless.”

Baby Teeth blinked, mind rapidly tracking the lines of that explanation, then he nodded. Mad Dog spoke for all of them, leveling Thumper with a glare. The boy who looked like he'd stepped out of the '80s with a curly blond mullet raised his hands in silent surrender. “No drugs, no felonies, and as far as possible don’t invite trouble. That’s not unreasonable Jones.”

Jughead watched the sometimes-quiet leader, knowing the boy’s lack of impulsivity made him the leader more often than someone like Thumper. Archie took a step towards his closest friend in the group, head tilting in question in the puppy-like manner it sometimes did. “So, what do you say then?”

Mad Dog took a moment of thought, then nodded. “I’m in.” Archie’s gaze swept across the others, not even close to hiding the hope burning in his eyes. Jughead watched them all at once, more subdued but also hopeful. Baby Teeth stood up and bounced forward a step to stand next to Mad Dog, knocking into the bigger boy’s arm and eliciting a fond and silent eyeroll. “Me too.” 

Rile, who was, counterintuitive to this name, almost always silent, nodded solemnly. Iron stood up and said, “Yeah, if you’re telling the truth than I’m in.” Thumper threw his hands in the air and muttered “What the hell?!” before leveling them both with a stern look and a devil-may-care grin. “Count me in!”

Archie’s grin would probably blind someone one day, and Jughead had to hide a small grin of his own as he saw his boy’s happiness and relief. Mad Dog was looking past them curiously. “Now then, may I ask something?”

Archie, the negotiations done, had slipped out of whatever mindset he’d been in and was once again a bit goofy and not quite all there as he swayed into Jughead’s side and he tilted his head at Mad Dog. Jughead grunted quietly and uncrossed his arms so he could use one to discretely steady the boy. He knew Archie swung from extremes and, the intensity over, he was in a fuzzy state where he needed someone he trusted to take some form of control and ground him. “What’s up, Mad Dog?”

The quiet man looked almost shy for a moment. “Uh, why’s the firecracker here? Isn’t she in a different group?”

Jughead looked over his shoulder at his two friends and grinned. Sweet Pea’s own grin had grown and was more than a little mischievous, Peaches popped a bubble of gum and smirked at the boys, unnerving more than a few of them. With sickly sweet, sugar-coated poisonous tones that promised violence and fun while it happened, for her at least, the girl in the black and purple jacket said simply: “Poisons are part of the Serpents again.”

Jughead grinned and shook his head. “We’ll explain later, but the short version is: The Poisons are still their own group, Toni’s in charge, but they are first and foremost Serpents and live by our laws again.”

Mad Dog, warily watching the currently calm hellions that were Sweet Pea and Peaches, eyes shifting back and forth, surprisingly calmly, as if he expected them to grow fangs and claws and start a bloodbath while laughing just for the hell of it, nodded slowly. “Riiigghht. Ok then.”

Archie laughed but then sobered, “Uh guys?” Jughead, ever mindful to keep a calm and steady expression and bearing when acting as the Serpent’s King, discretely turned his attention to the boy with a raised brow hidden under his hair. Archie was leaning into him, not enough to be noticeable to an observer but more than enough to be felt, pressing into him like a child might press close to a comfort blanket. Close enough that Jughead could see he was chewing his lower lip raw, a tic of his insecurity and anxiety. He’d turned shy again, not immediately noticeable to the others, but Jughead realized quiet immediately that his friend was once again anxious and being timid because of it. He pressed his arm to Archie’s back, not holding him, but providing a comforting pressure that seemed to calm the redhead.

Mad Dog, it seemed, wasn’t completely aware of Archie’s internal struggles but recognized the shift in demeanor where none of the others did, expression and tone respectful and softening the way they might for a spooked horse, a creature that could be quite caring or very deadly if not treated right. “What is it Red?”

Archie’s eyes settled on him and the added assurance settled him enough to hide the last of his anxiety away, not, however, the timidness with which he spoke, even though he did not stumble over the words. “Y’all know the back rooms? The ones we haven’t really used?”

Baby Teeth’s brows drew together and he pouted a bit as he concentrated. “What about them?”

Archie bit his own lip and Jughead marveled at how he could simultaneously embody and project a nervous kid and seasoned leader. “Hiram Lodge burned the Serpent’s homes, pulled a couple of strings and made it out to not just be an accident and get off the hook, but their faults so they didn’t get any help from the city.” Iron hissed slightly, his displeasure at the tactics clear in his bared teeth. “A lot of the Serpents don’t have homes at the moment, haven’t for a while. They’re camping out in a makeshift colony on a portion of land that, for now, isn’t getting them into trouble. ‘s thinking maybe we could set up a temporary home here?”

Speaking done, he bit his lip again and waited for their judgments to fall. Rile, surprisingly, sat forward, deep and light tones weaving to form the calm that was his voice. “Jones?” Jughead tilted his head towards him, eyes meeting his in open invitation. “We play by your laws and yours treat us like their own, right?”

He nodded. “They’ll give back what you give them.” The boy nodded to himself and sat back, seemingly satisfied. Baby Teeth quit worrying his lip and looked up at Mad Dog, musing worriedly. “Those rooms need a lot of work, and that’s a lot of people…” He trailed off and Mad Dog picked up where he left off, eyes turning from his small friend to find Jughead. “If that’s even an option, they’d have to pull their weight around here. We’ve barely got the place functioning as it is.”

Jughead nodded to him as well, “Of course. And if there are any house rules, I’ll make sure they know to play by them.”

Thumper laughed, short and just maybe a bit manic, drawing eyes back to him as he pushed himself off the ropes with a wicked grin. “What the hell boys?!” Eyes that were perhaps a bit mad and definitely wild met Jughead’s, sharp teeth baring in a smile under thin lips. “If that’s the case, ‘course they can stay here!”

Iron looked on at his friend with a weary expression, indicating to all that this was quite normal behavior from the lanky, long-haired teen. “Yeah sure, if they wanna room with this nut.” 

Thumper pressed both hands to his chest in a dramatic gasp, wide eyes boring into his friend’s exasperated and almost fond expression. “Iron! You wound me!”

As the others watched on, Archie laughed, light and joyful tones dancing through the air, and Jughead discretely held him closer, his boy’s happiness pulling at his chest and curling a small smile on his lips.

Serpents and Poisons, and now the Juvie Boys. Archie come home and settled into safety and healing between Jughead and Betty. A potential nest of safety for his family. It was better than he could have ever hoped, his optimism having given out a long time ago in the face of reality. He just hoped it would be enough, wouldn't be too late for the storm quickly coming to swallow them.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed it, even if it was a much longer wait then I had expected. Kudos are loved, comments are a thousand times better if you have something to say, big or small. <3
> 
> Also, if you think I wrote Thumper a bit like Billy Hargrove a-la basketball scenes, well you'd probably be right. And I've only just realised that the stupid curls, body language, and attitude are exactly what I was picturing now that I'm editing this.
> 
> Additionally, I haven't done my final proofread yet - I usually give it about a day so I'm not anticiapting the words I've read five times in the past hour - So if something sound particualrly clunky or there's atypo, please let me know! <3


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